


Smart Fellas

by samsarapine



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Blanket Permission, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-09
Updated: 2011-09-09
Packaged: 2017-10-23 14:08:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/251152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samsarapine/pseuds/samsarapine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lieutenant Sanzo is obsessed by the First National heist.  He knows who did it, he knows how they did it.  It's just the proof that's missing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smart Fellas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theskywasblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskywasblue/gifts).



> Written for theskywasblue for the 2011 7th Night Smut fest. Thank you to the Merciful Goddess, who is the godmother of all of the stories in the fest (and is the _literal_ godmother of this story, from the time it was new-born), and to my wonderful beta, Silverr, who is the arbiter of my written word. I was the last to touch it, though, so any mistakes remaining are my own.

  
**Smart Fellas**   


 

 _  
**Now.**   
_

Gojyo Sha stared down the barrel of a semi-automatic. He lifted his gaze from the gun. _This isn't happening. Not Hakkai. I'm safe. He'd never hurt me._

"Hakkai. It's okay. Really. I was going to let you know I was alive, honest!"

"It's all been lies," Hakkai said. His voice was ice and the keen, sharp edge of a knife. "You used me, Gojyo."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Banri. But I had to lay low. They know about the book!" _Hakkai loves me. This isn't real._ Gojyo's heart slowed until it played like a bass, pounding a rhythm so hard that each breath seemed interrupted, like his chest wasn't big enough for heart and lungs to work at the same time.

"My career with the police is ruined, now." Although still cold, Hakkai sounded almost conversational. "Sanzo will throw the book at me. I told him we could trust you."

"You _can_ trust me!" _There's a reason for this._

"You are the most charming liar I've ever known," Hakkai said. He chambered a bullet. "So beautiful. I fell in love with you, you know. Long before Kanan did."

"I love you, too! Damn it, Hakkai, listen to me!" _Oh Christ. He's going to shoot! No. I’ve got to stay calm. Don't act guilty. Let him see what I feel for him._ "Kanan was special. Your sister was a gorgeous, smart, fun woman. But she wasn’t you." Gojyo dropped all of the barriers he used to make himself look cool and cynical, tried to let Hakkai see everything: how much he loved him, how deeply he trusted Hakkai, how much he believed Hakkai would see how vulnerable that love made him, and how he wasn't afraid of that vulnerability, not with Hakkai. "I love _you._ "

Between a breath and a heartbeat, Gojyo saw Hakkai’s verdict. Hakkai's finger tightened on the trigger, drawing Gojyo's gaze down, then up as he looked into Hakkai's eyes.

The last thing Gojyo saw was unforgiving hatred, and the green, green eyes of the only man he'd ever loved.

 _  
**Ten days before...**   
_

By the time Gojyo’s confession-cum-manuscript was finished, he and Hakkai had all of the details of their plan worked out, with contingencies ready because Hakkai had insisted on them. The plan was fucking suicidal, Gojyo knew it, but he ignored the probability that they were both going to die, and assumed Hakkai did the same. It wasn’t about the happily-ever-after, anyway. It was about payback.

Hakkai’s first step worked like a charm: get rid of Banri to prevent early discovery. One phone call to the Eastside Gang boss, a cryptic message about Banri's fling with his mistress, and the shit hit the fan, Banri skipped town, and it was safe for Gojyo to bring the flash drive home.

Now it was time for Gojyo to implement step two: disguise the manuscript.

Gojyo had worked on it for over a year, writing at the library and storing the flash drive in a safety-deposit box, which Hakkai had got for him under a false identity. The whole First National heist was there, beginning to end – names, dates, places, how Gojyo had got them through the locks and alarms, who pulled the trigger, what they'd done with the cash from the bank, everything. Now Gojyo just needed to disguise it as a crime novel, written under a pen name.

The stick was burning a hole in his pocket, just as hot as the imaginary crosshairs burning a hole between his shoulder blades. The only way the plan had a chance in hell of working would be to keep the stick hidden and make sure nobody knew about it. If someone found it on him, Timmons would would get it, and he and Hakkai would end up dead, and Timmons would never get his payback. Yeah, the stick was encrypted, but if Timmons' hacker got her hands on it, breaking the code would be as easy as swatting a fly.

But Gojyo was damned if that would happen. The bastards needed to get what was coming to them.

He slipped into his flat and locked the door behind him, then set his jury-rigged alarm for good measure. Mouth dry, he plugged the stick into the hot laptop Hakkai had bought from a fence earlier in the week. Once the manuscript was disguised, the laptop would still come in handy; they'd been able to hack into Gojyo’s next door neighbor's WiFi connection, so Hakkai's home system could stay clean and the two of them could visit a few sites that the library connections wouldn’t allow. The stick, with names intact, would go back in the safety deposit box, right next to the last piece of Kanan left in the world.

Gojyo saved the manuscript to the hard drive, took the stick out and put it back in his pocket so he wouldn’t lose it, and then opened the document.

 _'Gojyo Sha was sitting on the couch scratching his balls, a beer in hand, watching some stupid reality show because he was too fucking lazy to turn the channel, when his roommate, another loser by the name of Banri, came home._

 _"Hey, Gojyo, want to earn a buck?"'_

He still couldn’t believe his stupidity back then. That Gojyo Sha had been a naive fucking idiot whose world had been about to come down around his pretty little ass, even though he hadn't known it. No, he'd just shrugged and said, "Tell me about it."

And easy as that, he’d signed his lover’s death warrant, without even knowing it.

He clicked on 'find and replace'. Time to change the names.

 _'Find 'Timmons'; Replace 'Dick'._

He was looking forward to step three.

The set-up.

Hakkai Cho, always calm and cool, was so agitated that Sanzo could almost see the air thrumming around him.

"Sanzo? May I talk to you in private?"

Sanzo shrugged, but admitted to himself that he was curious to see what had Hakkai so worked up. "Shut the door."

Hakkai shut the door and glanced around the room.

"It's clean," Sanzo said. He pulled out his cigarettes.

Hakkai's shoulders sagged and Sanzo saw an expression of relief flicker across his face. He took the chair opposite Sanzo, then pulled a large sheaf of papers from an envelope and passed it to him. "The First National job."

Sanzo paused, hand cupped around his lighter. "What about it?"

"This has everything. The informant says it's a work of fiction, and the names don't match our suspect list, but Sanzo, it's the First National heist, right down to the make and model of the truck we saw in the security tapes leaving the scene."

 _No way. It can't be that easy._ He blew out a stream of smoke. "Who is this guy?"

"His name is Gojyo Sha."

"Never heard of him. What makes you think this is legit?"

"I didn't, at first. I just thought he was a snitch looking to make some drug money. He pulled this out of a plastic bag, and after some negotiating, he let me read it. I think it's real."

 _Way too easy._ Interesting. Hakkai was lying, though Sanzo couldn't put his finger on what had given him away. Probably just how easily he said he'd swallowed the snitch's story. Hakkai never took things at face value.

Sanzo decided to let him get away with it for the moment. Something wasn't quite right with his story, and if he was dealing with a corrupt cop, he wanted to give Hakkai room to hang himself. "Where’d he get it?"

"He said he wrote it."

 _Bullshit._ "If what you’re saying is true, and this piece of crap is really an account of the heist, then you realize that guy had to be involved, right? Nobody outside of that heist would know the details. So why the hell did he give it to you?"

Hakkai used the smile that Sanzo knew their superiors bought as sincere, but which he'd known from the beginning was bullshit. His detective was about as sincere as a crocodile. "He said he wanted to expose Timmons, and he knew I was part of the investigating team."

Sanzo snorted. "Try again, asshole. I don't buy that for a second. No snitch is going to write a fucking book about one of the biggest heists in country and then just waltz up to a member of the investigating team and hand it over, especially if it implicates him."

The smile turned rueful. "I didn't expect that you would, but since it's going to be my official story, I had to try. All right. The truth is, I've been watching him for a long time, since early on in my involvement in the case. I've been slowly trying to gain his confidence. I know I've violated policy by not informing you of my actions – I should be taken off the case and disciplined for it – but I'm asking you to overlook it, because I think it’s paid off. He says he was coerced into participating in the heist. I believe him."

"You sucker." What the hell was wrong with Hakkai? He was an asshole, but he had brains and was almost as ruthless as Sanzo was. He knew better than to be taken in by a sob story. "If he's involved, he's scum. They killed a loan officer and two security guards on that job."

"You should talk to him yourself."

"He'll spin the story to make himself look good. They all do."

Hakkai didn't protest any more, though Sanzo was familiar with the stubborn set of his jaw. "Read the manuscript, at least. Then decide."

Sanzo scrutinized Hakkai, finishing his cigarette before holding out his hand. "Give it here. I'll read it tonight. And no contact with that guy until I say you can."

"All right."

 _He agreed too easily._ "What did you promise him for the manuscript?"

"I told him that if it helped us to find the perpetrators, we'd get him into the witness protection program."

At least that was more believable. If the guy wrote a book about the heist, even if he said it was fiction, and Timmons' group found out about it, he was dead meat. Sanzo was surprised he'd managed to survive as long as he had. Either he was little potatoes, like Hakkai said, or he was at the top. Anywhere else in between, and he'd be watched like a hawk.

If the manuscript was legit and could lead them to the evidence they needed, they’d probably have to move pretty fast if they wanted the snitch to live long enough to testify.

Little potatoes usually ended up cooked.

Sanzo's first impression of Gojyo Sha was that the man was a loser, the kind of guy who drifted through life from one poker hand to the next relying on his luck and his dick more than his brains.

He couldn't claim the description was original, since that was basically how Sha had described himself in the so-called 'novel' he'd written. A piece of crap from a literary point of view, but pure gold if the information inside was provable.

"Look," Sha said, waving a cigarette to emphasize his words, "Lieutenant whatever-the-hell-your-name-is. I'm not talking until I get a promise of immunity."

"I could subpoena you, moron. And if you skipped out on the subpoena, I could haul your ass in on suspicion of armed robbery and first degree murder," Sanzo replied.

Sha's eyes narrowed. "It's a work of fiction."

"My ass."

Sha snorted and took another drag of his cigarette. "All I’m saying is that my novel _happens_ to have a number of similarities with an unsolved crime. Don't you think I have a reason for being a paranoid son of a bitch?"

"You tell me."

Sha leaned forward, arms across his knees. "If a breath of this gets out, I'm dead."

"Then why the hell did you write the book?"

"I thought I could make some money from it."

"Posthumously, maybe. That doesn't answer my question."

Sha stared at him, but the look didn't look calculating, like Sanzo had expected. It looked as if Sha was trying to decide whether or not to trust him. The guy was a fucking open book. "They did something to me."

"And now you want to get back at them."

"Yeah."

"What did they do?" But Sanzo was pretty sure he knew, based on the story Sha had written. He just wasn't sure how close the murdered person had been to Sha.

"I’m a locks and alarms guy. I do jobs for people, and I don’t ask questions. But I’m smart enough to turn down the big jobs. Banri, my roommate, asked me to do this bank job, and I said, ‘no,’ because no way in hell am I doing a bank, even if I know the systems. But they got me. They said they knew I’d been dating someone who worked at the bank, and if I didn’t help, they’d pop her."

"Who?"

"Kanan Kinsey."

"The murdered loan officer."

"Yeah. She wasn’t supposed to be at the bank that night. I don’t know for sure, but I think they did it, made her work late on something for them, something that would have been legit from her point of view, maybe time sensitive. But I didn’t know she was there."

"And then what?"

"Just like I said in the manuscript. They needed me to get them in and out, so I was one of the team that broke in. Timmons was there, too. We got in, he had them round up the two guards and Kanan. When I saw her, I freaked. I told Timmons to let her go. Christ." Sha ran his hand through his hair. "She recognized my voice, said my name. I killed her as sure as if I pulled the trigger."

The asshole had a conscience. "People that carry out heists this big don't leave witnesses," Sanzo said, not to comfort him or anything, just to point out that she’d been dead before he’d opened his stupid fucking mouth.

"Don't you think I fucking know that? But Timmons said he’d let her go as long as I finished the job," he said. "I knew he was lying, but I thought maybe there might be a chance to escape with her, that I could get her out of there, so I went along with it. But the second we were out, Banri and another guy grabbed me. I didn’t see who killed the guards, but they brought Kanan outside so I could see. Timmons shot her right in front of me." He took a vicious drag of his cigarette and crushed it out in the overflowing ashtray.

Sanzo glanced at Hakkai to see how he was taking the story. He appeared to be relaxed and taking notes. But Sanzo caught a tiny movement of Hakkai's hand, as if he'd been about to reach out to Sha, but had stopped himself, and his face was pale.

 _There's something going on here._ He'd wait, and watch.

Meanwhile, Sanzo turned back to Sha. "Even with the woman being held over your head, you had time to contact the police. You realize that you've just admitted to being an accessory to a theft and three murders," he said.

Sha shrugged, but it didn’t look like his heart was in it. "The guy who approached me was my roommate. He'd been in heists before, don't get me wrong. But they were all small, two-bit things like ATMs. I didn't think he’d get hired by a group that was as elite as they turned out to be."

"Why did they let you live?"

"Because I’m good, and because Banri was my roommate, and because now they’re holding my brother, Jien, over my head. Banri skipped town a couple of days ago, and I've been looking over my shoulder ever since." Sha met his eyes. "I want to take them down. For Kanan. And to protect Jien."

"Say I was to ask my higher-ups to give you immunity." Sanzo smiled, and watched as Sha's expression became uneasy. "All you've given me to show them is a guy who admits that he was the one doing the breaking in, but says he was an unwilling accomplice, and a stack of paper that's a work of fiction. I need more."

Sha's gaze flickered to Hakkai before it returned to Sanzo. Just an instant, but enough to raise another alarm in Sanzo's head. "I've got something," Sha said. "Timmons. He was wearing a ski mask, but he stood right next to Kanan when he shot her. There was a lot of--" he swallowed hard. "I’ve got the mask. It should have all of the DNA evidence you need. Blood spray pattern, too."

"How’d you get Timmons’ mask?"

"Switched it out with mine once we were in the truck. He never knew, because my mask was bloody, too."

 _Now that's more like it._ Sanzo's smile broadened. "Hakkai, get the address of this asshole’s brother and contact the local police to keep an eye on him. I’ll start the paperwork for the witness protection."

Hakkai and Sha were up to something. Sanzo would bet his reputation on it.

Hakkai was cagey, and knew the department’s computer systems like the back of his hand, so Sanzo knew he’d have to be careful about how he kept tabs on him.

He decided to run surveillance out of his home so Hakkai didn’t somehow stumble across it on the office system. A few minutes’ work, and he had what he needed.

He went home to set it up.

It was easy enough to bypass the department’s tech specialists and upload covert surveillance software to Hakkai’s cellphone from his personal laptop, and then arrange for a feed from Hakkai’s internet provider. In less than an hour he’d tapped into the cellphone’s microphone and was listening to Hakkai as he went about his day, saving the audio stream to his computer, just in case Hakkai did something stupid.

Then he logged into Hakkai's internet, heated up a microwave dinner for himself, grabbed a beer, lit the first of what would probably be a series of cigarettes, and waited.

All he got at first was a bunch of traffic noise. Hakkai must have been driving somewhere. Sanzo winced when some asshole maxed his car stereo bass when Hakkai stopped at a light.

The traffic noises gradually grew less until Sanzo heard the sound of a garage door opening.

Hakkai was greeted by a yowl when he opened the door. Sanzo snorted. He'd never figured Hakkai for a cat person.

After about an hour, he concluded that Hakkai's home life sounded about as boring as his own. After dinner, Hakkai had played some light jazz and got on the internet for a while, but only to read and send some emails, all of which looked innocent enough, though Sanzo took a few notes. He left the cellphone on the counter, so when the internet feed indicated he'd gone offline and the jazz was switched off, Sanzo wasn't surprised when he heard just the faint sound of a toilet and a shower, then nothing.

Figuring Hakkai'd gone to bed, Sanzo did, too.

Sanzo monitored Hakkai for three days before he heard Sha's voice.

He was a little surprised to learn Hakkai was a bottom.

Hakkai's skin was so damned soft.

Gojyo nuzzled behind his ear and relished the hitch in Hakkai's breathing. Tonight he was taking it slow, Hakkai spread flat on the bed, face down, and himself plastered the length of Hakkai's body, barely moving other than a slow, rocking motion of his hips. Hard and fast was good, but times like this, where all of Hakkai's body was his, when Hakkai's brilliant, whip-fire mind was empty of anything but Gojyo, and the only sounds that Gojyo could hear were Hakkai's panting and his own inner chorus of 'fuck' and 'love' and 'Hakkai', words that never left his mouth – these times didn't just feel good, they were _perfect_.

He kissed the side of Hakkai's face, near his closed eye, and pressed their cheeks together as he slid his hands out to cover Hakkai's. He interlaced his fingers with Hakkai's and pushed extra deep, trying to touch Hakkai in places no one had ever touched except him, places that might still be virgin and new.

He was rewarded by a nearly silent, "Gojyo," so he kissed Hakkai again, on the corner of his mouth, and whispered, "Should we see how long we can last?"

A slight nod of Hakkai's face against the sheets was his answer. He wrapped his arms around Hakkai, pulling Hakkai's hands with him until they were cocooned together and his full weight rested on Hakkai's back and in his ass. Hakkai groaned, needy, but Gojyo kept the pace slow, his cock clutched so tight by Hakkai's ass that he wondered if he'd be able to pull out after.

"Hakkai," he whispered, just to say his name. He knew he was totally head over heels for the guy, but frankly he couldn't give a fuck. As much as he possessed Hakkai, Hakkai possessed him even more. Whatever pieces of Gojyo that Hakkai wanted, Gojyo would give to him, and then shake out the corners of his sorry-ass soul for more.

The rustle of the sheets and the deep musk of sex stirred Gojyo's blood, and he moved his hips a bit more quickly, the heat and friction making his cock swell within Hakkai's body. As slowly as he wanted to take it, the end was approaching fast, so he rocked deeper with each thrust, savoring the slick feel of Hakkai's ass. His climax burned through his body and swept toward his groin. He plunged deep once, twice, then bit the back of Hakkai's neck until he drew blood, pressed himself against Hakkai as hard as he could, and emptied himself deep inside Hakkai's body. Hakkai was strong. He could take it.

When the tremors finally faded, he could hear Hakkai's whispers and feel him awkwardly petting his head, half-twisted around to reach Gojyo. He roused himself enough to kiss Hakkai deeply, then pulled out and rolled Hakkai over until his hard cock rose toward the ceiling. He gave it a few lazy pulls, then judging that Hakkai was about to come, he slid down Hakkai's body, took his cock deep in his throat and swallowed around it.

Hakkai arched off the bed with a helpless cry, his hips jerking to push deeper down Gojyo's throat as he came in long, slow pulses. When he was finished, Gojyo pulled away, licking away the drops of come that had escaped him before climbing back up the bed to take Hakkai in his arms. He kissed the top of Hakkai's head.

Hakkai was already asleep.

Gojyo smiled to himself and wriggled a bit until Hakkai was in a more comfortable position across his chest, then fell asleep, too.

Hakkai was gone by the time Gojyo woke up. He scratched his stomach and got coffee going, then climbed into the shower.

It was time to get rid of the laptop. They didn’t need it anymore, and it was too damned dangerous to leave lying around. He didn’t expect Banri to get back for another couple of weeks, long after the plan went down, but it was better to be safe.

At least the flash drive was back in the safety deposit box again. That was the main thing.

He had a cup of coffee and a smoke, then headed out. Hakkai said he wanted to make a stir fry, so Gojyo figured, since he'd be picking out vegetables, he'd pick out something good to eat, too. Maybe some chocolate sauce. It had been a while since he'd had Chocolate Hakkai for dessert.

A couple of hours later he got back to his apartment, whistling "Hey, Jude" because it had been playing on the goddamned grocery store’s system when he'd checked out and he'd got an earworm from it. Dumping the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter, he headed for the bathroom.

"Yo."

Gojyo froze in his tracks and turned.

Banri was leaning in the doorway to the living room, a gun in his hand. Behind him, Gojyo could see the laptop's screen glowing from the coffee table.

"Fuck," he muttered.

Banri tched. "Been a naughty boy, haven't you? Good thing I came home when I did." He pushed off the doorway and grinned. "I learned a new word while I was gone. 'Sayonara', Gojyo."

 _At least I'll make a pretty corpse_ , Gojyo thought.

Sanzo had debated whether the timing was right to confront Hakkai or not, but with the case starting to break, he knew he couldn’t wait much longer. Hakkai had already compromised his role in the case, and with him sleeping with Sha, it looked like he might be stupid enough to do something that would compromise the entire investigation.

He called Hakkai into his office as soon as he entered the bullpen.

Hakkai stood in front of Sanzo's desk. "What is it, Sanzo?"

"Close the door and sit down."

Looking mildly quizzical, Hakkai closed the door, sat and waited.

"You're having sex with Sha."

Hakkai blinked, but the bastard didn’t look guilty about it. In fact, he smiled. "I didn't think we'd be able to keep it hidden for long," he admitted. "May I ask how you found out?"

"No." Sanzo leaned back in his chair and glared. "But if I found out, you better believe that the defense attorneys would find out, too."

"Ah haha." Hakkai rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, of course."

"Sha's just a piece of ass. Why the hell endanger the investigation by fucking him?"

Hakkai dropped the innocent act. "First, Gojyo is a fine man," Hakkai replied. "Second, I believe his life to be in danger. Since he hasn't received paid police protection yet, I've made it my business to provide it free of charge. Third, he was coerced into participating in the heist, therefore I consider him to be innocent."

"All I’m hearing is a hell of a lot of rationalization."

"I prefer to think of it as analysis."

"You're off the case."

"Sanzo--!"

"Shut up!" Sanzo sat forward, leaning on the desk and getting into Hakkai's face. "You're too stupid for words. You're a fucking officer of the law! Use that fucking brain of yours, asshole! You. Are. Endangering the investigation. Period. End of story." He sat back and crossed his arms. "You're off the case."

Hakkai, to give him credit, matched him glare for glare. "Then I presume that there's nothing keeping me from pursuing a personal relationship with him?"

"You presume wrong. He's still a suspect, and you're still a cop. In addition to compromising the case, it could mean suspension at the least, prison at the worst."

The stubborn set of Hakkai's face let Sanzo know what he thought of those two outcomes. "Why isn’t he in the witness protection program yet?"

"It's in the works." Sanzo shared Hakkai's frustration. The goddamned system took too long. They'd lost good witnesses before because red tape had held up Sanzo's recommendations, and there was nothing guaranteeing that Sha wouldn't be another one who got protection too late to save his life. "Until then, I'll have a team of beat officers check in on him once or twice while they're doing their rounds."

"Not good enough."

"Fine. Then we arrest him and put him in solitary until the paperwork goes through. _If_ you want to hold up things even more, since someone’s bound to ask why he should receive protection if he’s already in custody."

Hakkai frowned, not meeting Sanzo's eyes. Finally, he nodded. "I'll take it. The risk of slowing up the paperwork is worth the relative safety he'll experience." He looked up. "But I'll go with you to do the arrest. He might not come quietly if someone else showed up with a warrant."

Sanzo grunted. "Go get the warrant and I'll meet you downstairs."

But when they got to Sha's apartment, all they found was the smell of cordite and a bloodstain in the shape of Sha's head.

Banri proved to be as stupid as Sha, if not worse. They picked him up when a cop pulled him over for running a red light and saw he was wanted on a possible murder inquiry when he ran Banri’s license.

 _Fucking idiot._ Sanzo lit a cigarette and watched Hakkai take a first stab at interrogation.

Hakkai shoved Banri's chair away from the table. "No need to hide. Let us get a look at you." He was smiling his 'I'm going to eviscerate you' smile. "Where's Sha?"

Banri just grinned. "He told me he was going out for a walk."

Hakkai leaned forward, until he was nearly whispering into Banri's ear. "Tell me what I want to know."

"What are you going to do, cop? Arrest me?" Banri rattled his chained hand, then looked at Sanzo. "Give me a cigarette, asshole."

Hakkai’s eyes flashed, and for a second, Sanzo thought he’d choke the guy. He was closer to the edge than Sanzo liked to see.

"I'm the good cop," Hakkai said, and this time Banri looked a little worried. "You don't want to get on his bad side."

Banri leaned as far away from Hakkai as his cuff would let him go. "He just looks like a nice piece of ass to me." He cried out in sudden fear as Hakkai twisted his uncuffed arm up behind his back.

"Now, now," Hakkai said, a cheerful smile on his face, "you don't want to add to the list of charges against you, do you? Solicitation of a police lieutenant wouldn’t go over very good with the other officers.”

Banri snarled and remained silent.

Up to now, Sanzo had been content to let Hakkai conduct the interrogation. With Sha dead, Hakkai was still compromised, but not to the same degree, and he might know something that would get Banri to open up.

But it looked like Banri was made of tougher stuff. Sanzo stubbed out his cigarette and drew his sidearm. "If you don't tell me what you did with Sha's body in the next the next ten seconds, I'm going to blow off your left nut."

"You can't do that!" Banri struggled with Hakkai. "Let me go, fucker!"

"I'm the lieutenant. I can do whatever the fuck I want, and nobody here will see a thing." Sanzo casually chambered a round. "Time’s up." He shot Banri's chair seat.

"You fucker! You fucker!" Banri screamed. "You could have fucking blown my nuts off with that!"

"That's the idea." Sanzo fired another round.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Banri's eyes were the size of saucers. "All right! Fuck! He's in the bay!"

"And the murder weapon?"

"It's in the storm sewer outside of City Hall!"

"Thank you," Hakkai said, his voice still cheerful. He caught Sanzo's eye, and Sanzo motioned with his head for Hakkai to leave. Hakkai checked Banri's handcuff one more time, then left the room.

Sanzo laid his gun on the table, just within Banri's reach if he were willing to dive for it and drag his chair along with him. The dick almost looked stupid enough to go for it, staring at it and licking his lips.

"So," Sanzo said. Banri's eyes darted toward him, full of fear. "Tell me about the First National heist."

Banri's eyes fell back to the gun. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't be stupid." Sanzo was so sick of idiots. "First National. You were there. Tell me about it."

"Uh," Banri swallowed, his eyes wide. "You've got the wrong guy."

"Have you ever seen what happens to a snitch in jail? I'm not talking prison," Sanzo said. "Jail. Jammed into a cell with half a dozen pissed off guys, all either drunk or waiting for their outside connection to tell them what's going down. You think that if one of those guys hears that there's a guy in the cell with him that his connection wants iced, he's not going to kill the guy?"

Banri licked his lips again. "If I knew anything – theoretically – what's in it for me?"

"For killing Sha? Second-degree. Maybe manslaughter, but don't count on it. I'd see what I could do to get you a free pass on the First National charges."

"Timmons has guys everywhere," Banri whispered.

Sanzo snorted. "You rather take your chances with him out there, or know that he's locked away in maximum security? He knows you're here. Even if you don't talk, maybe someone will start a rumor that you did. Funny how those things happen."

"You fucker," Banri snarled. "You wouldn't fucking dare."

"We've got plenty of evidence, and you're small fry. It's no skin off my nose if you've got a death wish."

"Gojyo dragged me into it," Banri said. "It's all his fault."

"Go ahead," Sanzo said, holstering his gun. "Talk, bastard."

When he'd finished with Banri and had him taken back to Holding, Sanzo sent for Hakkai, only to be told that he'd taken the rest of the day off and was on the vacation roster for the rest of the week. Sanzo swore under his breath and pulled the vacation slip.

Yeah, Hakkai'd forged his fucking signature again. He should have never let the guy sign off on his forms.

Pissed, Sanzo drove home and checked his surveillance gear. Sure enough. Nothing was coming across. There was no sound from Hakkai's cellphone, no activity on his internet connection.

Hakkai wasn’t stupid. He knew Sanzo had him under surveillance as soon as Sanzo asked him about sex with Sha. He'd probably left his cellphone in a drawer somewhere, and there were a million places he could use to access the internet without signing into his service. He swung by Hakkai's place and confirmed that Hakkai's car was in the garage, so he couldn't even send out an APB on that, though he set up cameras on both doors of the house.

"Hello. Are you Lieutenant Sanzo, by any chance?"

Sanzo stopped trying to jimmy Hakkai’s lock. "Who the fuck wants to know?"

"I’m Linda. Hakkai’s neighbor. He said you might stop by."

The fucker was too smart for his own good. "What else did he say?"

"He sounded upset, though I think he tried to hide it. He laughs when he has things to hide, and he was laughing quite a bit."

Sanzo clenched his jaw. "Yes, he does. What else did he have to say?"

"Just that he was going to be away for a few days, and he asked if I’d look after Mr. Fluffy while he was gone, and told me to keep an eye out for you."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"I asked, but you know, I don’t think he ever answered." The woman laughed. "He can be a bit scatterbrained, can’t he?"

 _You’re the scatterbrained idiot, you old bat._ She was the kind of person who would tell anyone anything, and one day probably get her ass in a sling as a result, and then wonder how it happened. "Did he say why you were supposed to keep an eye out for me?"

"Oh, yes! He said he thought you might want to drop off something or pick up something, or something like that." She beamed. "He asked me to let you in if I saw you."

So much for planting cameras. Though he’d get the old bag to let him in, even though Hakkai had as good as told him he wouldn’t find anything. Maybe the asshole had slipped somewhere. "When did you talk to him?"

"An hour or two ago." She fussed with some keys. "Would you like to go in?"

Once inside, Sanzo found nothing. He wasn’t surprised. He also wasn’t surprised to be molested by the damned cat. Hakkai was a fucked-up jerk, it figured his cat would be, too.

When he got back to the office, he ran a trace on the call Hakkai had made to the neighbor. It had come from a pay phone outside of headquarters. Sanzo wasn’t sure if he should consider it a taunt, or evidence of Hakkai’s desperation.

Frustrated, Sanzo sent out a general 'call back' to all police officers, asking them to contact his office if Hakkai was seen, and put extra guards on Banri. He hoped that someone would run across Hakkai and let him know, but until then, all he could do was wait.

The next morning, Banri was found dead in his bunk in the holding cell, a small, handmade plexiglass shiv embedded in the spot where his skull met his neck.

Sanzo watched the video, but the cameras didn't show anything other than normal movement. The holding cell had had a pretty high turnover rate - the streets had been busy, and there had been more drunks than usual taken in. It could have been any one of the prisoners, and the stupid fuck had laid down on his bunk with his back to the others almost as soon as he’d been put in the cell. He couldn’t have been easier to kill if he’d handed the guy the weapon and pointed to the back of his neck. They couldn’t track down all of the detainees, since several had made bail and disappeared, and the ones they could find denied that they had seen anything unusual. There were no fingerprints on the shiv.

When Sanzo pored over Timmons’ past criminal records, there was a mention of another associate who had turned rat also dying by being stabbed in the back of the neck, though that time the shiv had been a toothbrush. No suspect had ever been identified.

He didn’t like the fact that there was no plexiglass to be found anywhere in the areas of the station and jail where suspects were processed. It meant that one of the inmates had brought it in from outside, which meant officers were either conducting poor body searches or letting things through deliberately; or, worse, it had been supplied by someone on staff from the inside. He chewed out a few uniforms, reported to the higher ups that security checks needed to be reworked, and smoked way too many cigarettes in an attempt to keep his anger from becoming homicidal.

All Sanzo could conclude was that the hit had either been ordered by Timmons using a signature kill style, or committed by someone who knew Timmons’ records and had mimicked the past attack. Neither theory got him any further along with the case, and he didn’t believe in coincidences.

Neither theory would exonerate a missing Hakkai Cho.

Hakkai showed up to work on Monday.

"Thank you for allowing my vacation request," he said with his normal cheerful expression, but there was an edge to his voice that made Sanzo uneasy.

"I didn’t allow it, bastard. You took it."

"Ah haha! I’m sorry," he said – and for a moment, he looked as if he really might be – "but I had a personal emergency to deal with."

Sha’s body was still missing. Sanzo wondered if Hakkai knew where it was. "Banri was killed in his cell the night you took off."

"I didn’t know." For the life of him, Sanzo couldn’t read past Hakkai’s expression of shock. "How?"

"Timmons’ M.O."

"He has an M.O.?" Hakkai frowned. "I didn’t know that."

"You seem out of the loop on a lot of things," Sanzo replied. "Where were you?"

Hakkai hesitated, then shook his head. "I’m sorry, but I’m not going to talk about it."

"Connected to Sha?"

"Yes. And no. I think I was in shock much of the time," he said, unexpectedly candid, but still giving nothing away. "Has anyone notified Jien?"

"The department notified Sha’s brother that he’s missing. Nothing else. You’re off the case, and I’m thinking about suspending your ass."

"I understand." Hakkai straightened, and his smile was a bit wistful. "You’ve always been fair, Sanzo. Thank you."

The hairs on the back of Sanzo's neck prickled. That had sounded an awful lot like Hakkai was thinking of quitting. "Don’t go anywhere. I want you here, in town, until this investigation is tied up."

"Of course."

"Now get the fuck out of my office."

As the door closed behind him, Sanzo wondered if Hakkai would break. Though he looked calm, there was an underlying desperation that bled out of him like an artery had been severed.

Sanzo always felt like an idiot when he had to tail someone, and even more idiotic when it was past two o'clock in the fucking morning and he was running around like some damned paintball commando. But Hakkai was on the move, and Sanzo didn't dare let himself fall too far behind, not when the man acted like a hair-trigger bomb about to detonate.

He frowned as Hakkai pulled into the parking lot of a cheap motel. Sanzo found a parking space down the block, under a broken streetlamp, that gave him a good view of the front windows of the units.

Hakkai entered the furthest unit. Pulling out the binoculars, Sanzo watched Hakkai through the open curtains.

Well, fuck.

Sha was still alive.

He hadn't seen that one coming. Sanzo wondered how Hakkai had found out.

Sha half-stood from where he'd been sitting on the bed, hand extended, palm out, wearing a bandage around his head. Banri's bullet must have been a pretty close miss.

It looked like he was trying to calm Hakkai down. Sanzo put the binoculars down to aim the dish of the listening device at the room, fiddling with the dials until he captured their voices and had filtered out background noises. He left it on the dash and took up the binoculars again.

He had a bad feeling.

"Hakkai! It's okay. Really. I was going to let you know I was alive, honest!"

"It's all been lies."

Warning alarms went off in Sanzo’s mind. Hakkai sounded like killers Sanzo had known, detached and obsessively focused at the same time.

Cursing, he dropped the binoculars and fumbled for the shotgun strapped to the dashboard. Sha may be scum, but he'd be damned if the man became the reason his best officer ended up on death row.

"You used me, Gojyo."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Banri. But I had to lay low. They know about the book!"

"My career in the police is ruined, now. Sanzo will throw the book at me. I told him we could trust you."

Sanzo hesitated as he opened his car door. Something about Hakkai's delivery bothered him. Why the hell was he talking about all of this crap when he should just be shooting the bastard? He pumped the shotgun, just in case, but his instincts told him to wait, and he took up the binoculars again.

Hakkai always had a plan. Maybe he was trying to scare Sha. In a case this big, Sanzo didn't want to blow it if Hakkai was about to force a break in it.

"You _can_ trust me!"

"You are the most charming liar I've ever known. So beautiful. I fell in love with you, you know. Long before Kanan did."

"I love you, too! Damn it, Hakkai, listen to me! Kanan was special. Your sister was a gorgeous, smart, fun woman. But she wasn’t you. I love you."

 _What the hell!_ Sanzo was furious. _Fuck! One of the victims was Hakkai’s sister? The bastard! He should never have been on the case! How could I have missed that?_

Hakkai had been hiding things from him from the beginning. And that meant–

"Fuck!" Sanzo watched as Sha fell backward, long red hair flying like the blood spray that burst from his chest, and knew the bullet had destroyed Hakkai’s life as well.

Sha was dead before he'd hit the floor.

Sanzo dropped the binoculars to the ground and jumped out of the car, racing towards the motel. Hakkai came out of the motel room, Sha's body draped over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Hold it!" Sanzo brought the shotgun up at the same time as Hakkai calmly aimed his gun at Sanzo and pulled the trigger. He heard the bullet hiss past him and hit something metallic behind him.

"Don't do it, Sanzo!" Hakkai called. "I have the drop on you, I'm afraid."

Sanzo stopped in the middle of the street, shotgun still half-raised. He could get a hip shot off, which might bring Hakkai down. Or not. He wasn't in the best range, yet, and if he only peppered Hakkai's legs, he'd be signing his own death warrant. "You stupid-ass bastard! Sha wasn't worth going to prison for!"

"I beg to disagree," Hakkai said. He sounded pleased, and Sanzo couldn't tell if the smile on the crazy fucker's face was real or one of his fake ones. "I think Gojyo is well worth prison time." He started walking to his car again, keeping his gun pointed steadily at Sanzo. "Please don't follow me."

"Of course I'll follow you, you son of a bitch!"

Hakkai's smile grew wider. "I don't think so." He managed to open the passenger door and dump Sha's body into the car. Damn, he was one strong moron. He kicked Sha's legs inside, then closed the door and circled around to the driver's side. "You don't know where I'm going." He opened the door and ducked inside.

The car roared to life. Sanzo cursed and brought the shotgun up, aiming for the tires as Hakkai threw the car into a spinning reverse. He pulled the trigger...

Nothing.

"Fuck!" he screamed, pumping the shotgun as Hakkai sped out of the parking lot, heading straight at him. He leveled the shotgun again, aimed point-blank at Hakkai's smiling face and pulled the trigger, but no jigsaw of broken glass splattered across the windshield. He barely was able to jump out of the way as Hakkai raced past him and took a sharp corner, red taillights glaring and tires screeching. The sound of the car's engine faded into the distance.

Sanzo broke open the magazine. Empty. That goddamned bastard had broken into his car and emptied out his goddamned shotgun! "Fuck!" Sanzo shouted again. He ran back to his car, only to find that Hakkai's shot had taken out his front tire.

He stood in the middle of the road, panting from the adrenaline and wondering what the sweet fuck he should do next.

Finally, he shook his head. Hakkai was right. He had no idea where the fucker was going. Maybe he'd left something behind that might give him a clue.

The door of the motel room was wide open, and Sanzo could hear the first notes of a police siren in the distance. He didn't have much time.

Blood was everywhere, but the room was clean otherwise. It only took him a second to spot the large envelope sitting neatly on a pillow.

It was addressed to him. Shaking with anger, Sanzo ripped it open.

 _Dear Sanzo,_

 _If I'm correct in judging your current actions subsequent to my murder of Gojyo, you should be reading this letter within a few moments of my escape._

 _I'm headed to the docks. Once I'm there, I'll tie Gojyo's body to the propeller blade of the_ Kobe Kappa _, which departs at 03:05 hours. I estimate that it will take less than 30 seconds after that – before, if they do engine checks – for his body to be dispersed so widely through the water, and in such small portions, that no evidence of a crime shall exist._

Sanzo grunted with disgusted admiration. Leave it to Hakkai to think of an effective and bloody way to not only dispose of a body, but to clean up after himself while doing so.

Fucking psychopath.

 _I will then commit suicide. Please ensure that a police colleague that you trust implicitly is first at the scene, or at the very least, a witness; the handgun I used to kill Gojyo is registered in one of Timmons' aliases, and contains chambered bullets with Timmons' fingerprints on them, and since I shall also use it to commit suicide, I should very much like it to be used as evidence that Timmons murdered me._

 _To aid in that deception, I have placed a large file of evidence on your desk. Please ensure that you arrive at the office as soon as possible after finding this letter. The file contains the following information, some of which will require immediate attention and action on your part:_

Sanzo groaned. The bossy bastard had included a fucking list. In a damned suicide note.

 _1\. Evidence of a stolen vehicle – I actually stole it (ahahaha! Don't tell!), but forensics will find Timmons' fingerprints and those of a close associate inside the vehicle and on the outside door handle, underneath. I trust our department's forensic officers are thorough enough, but if not, a small nudge in the correct direction would be greatly appreciated. (I shall keep the secret of how they got there to myself. It's nice to have the power to take secrets to the grave, isn't it?)_

 _2\. Evidence of the use of said stolen vehicle to commit a crime – in addition to the fingerprint evidence, there will also be evidence that I was in the car (given that I was)._

 _3\. Evidence of the murder of a police officer – The gun, of course, supplemented with security camera information taken from the shipyard's systems, and the_ prima facie _blood evidence I shall be sure to leave behind when I pull the trigger, just in case my body should be lost. I believe these pieces of evidence should suffice to convict Timmons. If they don't, I shall be highly upset with you, enough to consider the possibility of coming back from the grave to haunt you._

 _4\. Evidence of money laundering and the distribution of stolen goods – I've included all of the evidence that I've been able to compile over the years tracing both the paper trail and the electronic trail of the funds stolen during the First National heist. It should be sufficient not only to establish that Timmons and his accomplices had possession of the stolen property, but to recover whatever money still remains in their possession._

 _5\. And of course, evidence of the First National heist itself. The bank security tapes that we've had from the beginning, coupled with the ski mask which Gojyo gave to you, should be sufficient evidence of a murder, evidence of Timmons' presence at the scene of a robbery, evidence of collusion to commit felony robbery, etc._

 _(If possible, please see to it that the ski mask is handled with respect. Both Gojyo and I loved Kanan very much. I think it was difficult for him to give away that small piece of her that was left, even if it convicts Timmons.)_

 _Within a matter of weeks, you should receive a key to a certain safety deposit box, of which you have been named executor and fiduciary agent. All that remains within is the computer media containing Gojyo’s original manuscript – autobiographical, with names – and a request that the proceeds from any publication of the manuscript, if you choose to sell it, be set up as a charitable foundation to compensate victims of crimes. Considering that you are one such victim, I'm sure that you'll agree that this is an appropriate cause._

Sanzo paused and re-read the paragraph about the manuscript. Fuck. Double fuck. Hakkai, in typical Hakkai fashion, was telling him that Sha's novel was his pay-off. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, though it didn't do a single fucking thing for the headache that the asshole had given him.

He could either submit the manuscript as evidence, or he could sit on it and make a fortune once the trial was over.

Muttering a continuous stream of profanity, he opened his eyes again and kept reading.

 _I find the personal insights one attains when one contemplates certain death to be interesting. For instance, I never would have imagined that one person's betrayal, and the act of committing his subsequent murder, would result in a life that wasn't worth living. I'm setting up Timmons not because I'm an over-dedicated police officer, but because, in a way, it's my gift to Gojyo._

 _A sort of engagement ring for the beyond. *Ahahaha!*_

 _Your colleague,_

 _Hakkai Cho_

Sanzo rubbed a hand over his face. How had he not known that his subordinate was such a fucking crazy fuck? Christ! How the hell had Hakkai ever passed the damned police psychology profile tests?

The sound of sirens had nearly reached the motel.

Fuck it. First things first. He folded the paper and put it in his pocket, then took out his cigarettes and started preparing his story in his head.

He had a criminal to frame.

Nearly twenty-two hours working non-stop, and a number of really satisfying arrests later, Sanzo stopped by Hakkai's house to pick up the goddamned cat.

 _  
**Thirteen months later...**   
_

Sanzo stripped off his dress uniform for the last time and flung it in a corner. A gold watch and a boring-as-hell ceremony marked the end of his career as a police officer and the beginning of his life as a civilian, free of all of the stupid ass rules and regulations that came with the badge he'd worn for the past seventeen years.

He was out, and he couldn't be more relieved. Yeah, he'd got Timmons, so technically the First National case was a good one to go out on, but in the process he'd lost a good officer and watched an idiot too stupid to live actually get killed for it.

Timmons' trial had been open and shut, even with the asshole's clever lawyers. The ski mask and bank surveillance tape offered no wiggle room, and Hakkai's manipulation of the evidence surrounding his death had been air-tight as well, even without his body, which must have been swept out to sea. Not for the first time, Sanzo was glad as hell that Hakkai had chosen to be a cop. If he'd gone the other way, he'd have probably taken over the world.

Putting on a pair of sweats, he opened his safe and pulled out Sha's flash drive. He went into his study and plugged it into his computer.

The cat jumped up on the computer table and started purring. He absently smoothed its fur.

The file was there, big as life and written in Sha's crappy prose.

He hadn’t thought much about Hakkai or Sha for months, other than a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that there were a lot of unanswered questions about them, especially about their deaths. Something seemed... off. Now that he'd officially retired, he wanted to check a few things out. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was almost convinced that he’d been missing something about what had happened the night of the murder/suicide.

But first, he needed to find a publisher.

 _  
**Seven months later...**   
_

There was only one taxi on the island, and it was driven by a guy so young he could barely reach the pedals. After two seconds in his company, Sanzo reached the conclusion that he probably wouldn't shut up until he'd been dead for a few years, and resigned himself to inane babble for the duration of the ride.

He wasn't much for scenery, but he had to admit that the island's panorama of tall palms, white beaches and blue sky and water had the advantage of being anything but a big city. He adjusted his sunglasses and only rolled his eyes a little when a brilliant red parrot flew overhead, on cue.

The driver let him off at the top of a long driveway that led into the jungle, but assured him it was perfectly safe. Sanzo lit a cigarette and watched until the car was out of sight, the driver waving at him madly the entire time and not bothering to look at the road.

He finished his cigarette, crushed it under his foot, then started walking.

The screeches and calls of the birds and animals around him made him uneasy – animals belonged in a fucking zoo, for Christ's sake – and he was glad to see a small white cottage appear through the foliage after walking about a quarter of a mile.

Five minutes later, he was knocking at the door.

When it opened, he had to admit that the tropical sun had done a lot of good for Hakkai. His skin was a deep tan which made his green eyes with their hint of insanity even more disturbing, but he looked happy. Sanzo bet nobody fucked with him, not even the local crime syndicate, unless it was impossible not to.

"Sanzo!" To give him credit, no fear flickered across Hakkai's face, though he looked cautious. "I admit I hadn't been expecting you. Won't you come in?"

Sanzo grunted and stepped past Hakkai, the area between his shoulder blades itching as soon as he had his back to the man. Nothing happened, however, except that Hakkai called out, "Gojyo! We have a visitor!"

Which answered that question.

Sha slouched into the room looking bored and brown as a nut, only to blink and straighten when he saw Sanzo, the same cautious look on his face as Hakkai had worn. "Hey," he said. "How's it hanging?"

Sanzo glared, but didn't reply. He turned to Hakkai. "Got a beer?"

"I'll get it," Sha offered. Sanzo watched as he and Hakkai traded glances, not quite sure what they were communicating to each other, but interested to notice that they both relaxed a bit. "Be right back," he said to Sanzo with a wink and a grin.

"We like to sit on the veranda this time of day," Hakkai said, leading the way through a set of double doors open to the breezes. The veranda proved to be a well-shaded flagstone area surrounded by a tropical garden that overlooked the ocean. A few cushioned chairs sat around a small table under the shade of a large umbrella. A clear pitcher full of something bright green sat on the table, sides dewed with condensation, along with a couple of beer bottles and a tall glass filled with the green stuff, sporting a bright pink umbrella.

Overall, it was pretty fucking idyllic. Sha came out of the cottage with two bottles of beer, both of which he extended to Sanzo. Wondering if one of them was poisoned, Sanzo took the furthest bottle.

Sha immediately swigged out of the other and straddled a chair next to the table. Hakkai sat next to the green drink, and they both looked at him expectantly.

Sanzo angled a chair so that he could see the other two, then took a swig from his bottle and sat down. The beer was crisp and bitter and disgustingly perfect for the warm afternoon.

"So," Hakkai said, a bright smile on his face, "to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

He wasn't about to admit that it was curiosity, and a strange loneliness that had eaten into him in the nearly two years since Hakkai had disappeared. "Circumstance," Sanzo said instead.

"Ah," Hakkai replied, as if it made perfect sense. "We're pleased to see you again, of course."

Sha muttered something that sounded like, "Speak for yourself," but Sanzo ignored him.

"I just wanted to clear up a couple of things." Sanzo drank, keeping his gaze on both of the other men.

Hakkai's smile became more genuine. "We'd be happy to satisfy your questions, as long as we can all reach agreement about some ground rules."

"I'm not a cop anymore," Sanzo said. "I retired a few months ago. I don't give a rat's ass about you bastards."

"That makes things much easier," Hakkai said, relief plain on his face. "So, how did you surmise that we were alive?"

"I knew Sha wasn't dead."

Both Sha and Hakkai looked surprised. "How?" Hakkai asked.

"One. You screwed up. When you're about to murder someone, you don't bother to say something obvious like the fact that your career was ruined or make little speeches about your boss. You're the kind of asshole who would just make a wisecrack and blow the person away. You were obviously putting on an act. Two. The idiot screwed up. He looked like some kind of fucking TV actor when he was shot. Falling backward, flying hair, the works. He should have just dropped straight down. Three. You didn't ask me to destroy the shipping yard surveillance tapes, which showed two men in the car you used to frame Timmons and his accomplice. You wanted those tapes seen, and you needed another man in the car for the camera. Conclusion. Sha was alive. And if Sha was alive, so were you."

"But it convinced the jury."

"Juries are sheep, anyway. You can't expect them to use their brains. They just eat up whatever the attorney with the best suit gives them."

"Well, now that you're here..."

Sanzo drank some more beer. "Funny thing," he said, leaning back in his chair. "They only recovered part of the money."

"My, my. That's a shame." Hakkai waved a fly away and looked politely attentive.

"Timmons probably stashed it somewhere," Sha said.

"Yeah, he had it stashed. Once he was convicted, though, he gave his attorneys information about where he'd hidden it, hoping to get an easier sentence. But it turns out the accounts had been wiped clean."

"Are you sure you caught the entire gang? Perhaps one escaped." Hakkai sipped at his fruity-looking drink, the little umbrella like a bright pink butterfly next to his cheek.

Sanzo snorted. Yeah, one damned well escaped, and he was drinking a beer and looking stupid not five feet away. "You must have had quite a savings built up to be able to buy property down here," he said instead.

Sha looked pissed. "Oh, for Christ's sake. A life insurance policy paid off."

"Whose? Your lover's?"

Sha met his eyes, defiant, but Hakkai murmured, "Yes. It was Kanan's," and Sha looked at him like he was Christ and the girl next door and apple pie all rolled together.

Sanzo dropped it. After all, he didn't have proof, and he doubted like hell Hakkai would have left any trail, paper or electronic. Though he personally didn't give a crap, he could admit there was some karmic balance to the two of them getting the balance of the haul as blood money. Besides, he was living off of Sha's book. It felt like a fair trade.

"Your sister was adopted." He let the unvoiced _and you weren’t_ hanging in front of Hakkai.

He was rewarded by a flicker of past pain and annoyance, though Hakkai recovered quickly. "And then married and divorced."

Divorced a couple of times. She never would have stayed with Sha, just collected a new name to add to all of the others she carried around. But none of them tied back to 'Cho.' Not until Sanzo had managed to access her sealed adoption papers. He wondered how Hakkai had found her. "You should’ve told me. Timmons would have walked if the prosecutor had been handed a case where a cop was investigating his sister’s death."

"Did it come out at the trial?"

Sanzo shook his head. "You were dead. Nobody dug that deep." He took out his cigarettes and lit one, throwing the pack on the table in front of him. "Why did you even bring that up? I could have had other cops with me, listening in."

Hakkai shook his head. "I know you. You keep everything to yourself. But to answer your question... I’m not really sure. Partly because she deserved recognition from me."

 _Bullshit. You wanted me to ‘approve’ of your actions, you manipulative bastard._ Sanzo grunted and finished his beer, then slouched in his chair to enjoy the rest of his cigarette. He looked at Sha. "Why didn't that Banri asshole off you?"

Sha snorted. "Banri sucked with guns. Even at point-blank range, the stupid fuck just grazed me. He thought he'd killed me, though. Dragged me to the harbor, dumped me in. The water woke me up, I swam back to shore, called Hakkai's neighbor, and she passed a message on to him, telling him where I was."

"I knew I should have asked her more questions," Sanzo muttered to himself. "So Hakkai disappeared for a few days to patch you up and plan that little murder-suicide act."

"We'd always planned on that," Hakkai said. "We couldn't take a chance on either Timmons or the police following us. The Banri incident ended up for the best, since it gave me time to make alternative arrangements after you so kindly tipped me off that you were monitoring me."

Sanzo debated asking if Hakkai or Sha had killed Banri, then decided it didn't make any difference, since Banri had been a dumb fuck who couldn't even murder a sitting duck, so he just nodded. "I figured as much. And you'd been fucking Sha a whole hell of a lot longer than you let me believe."

"Gojyo and I have been lovers since just before the heist," Hakkai said.

Sanzo was surprised into a bark of laughter. "Cheating with your sister’s boyfriend?"

Hakkai ignored him. "How did you find us?"

"That stakeout." Right after Hakkai joined the department, when Sanzo hadn't known yet what an asshole he could be. The damned idiot wouldn't shut up, wanted to play games to stay awake. Sanzo always stayed awake for stakeouts; he didn't know why the hell other people had problems with them. "You said you wanted to retire to the Islands."

Hakkai laughed. "I'd forgotten that! You wanted to retire to somewhere where there weren't any people. I seem to remember Antarctica was mentioned."

"How'd the book do?" Sha asked, a little too casually.

"Okay." It still pissed him off to no end that the damned thing had become a best-seller and that critics had been crying all over the place about the 'tragic loss of a natural talent' and 'modern urban writing at its best.' "I'm here, aren't I?"

Sha looked disappointed, but Hakkai murmured, "I hear it was on the _New York Times_ best-seller list for close to three months."

"Notoriety," Sanzo replied. "Sells even shitty stuff."

"By the way, how did you explain Gojyo's blood in the motel room?" Hakkai asked, his voice too casual. "It wasn't until I left that I realized I'd forgotten that detail."

 _I hope you sweated bullets about it, too, prick._ "I didn't explain," Sanzo said. "I told them that you'd called to meet me at the motel, and I got there to find a pool of blood and no Hakkai. There was enough blood and evidence to place the actual scene of your ‘murder’ at the wharf, so when the blood samples didn't match, I let everyone assume that Timmons may have brought someone else with him, killed him, too, and disposed of the body. Since the Banri incident never came to trial, the labs put the blood in Sha’s apartment on the back burner. As far as I know, they still haven’t tested it. There was a hell of a lot of it, though," he added, suspicious.

"Special effects props and a blood draw the day before," Gojyo said with a grin. "And don’t try to sound so cool. My act fooled you the first time, didn’t it?”

Before Sanzo could put the jerk in his place, the pound of running footsteps brought them all to their feet, Sanzo unconsciously reaching for his gun, only to remember he didn't carry one any more.

The cabbie burst around the corner of the house, carrying a carrier that made Sanzo groan.

"Goku!" Hakkai said, sounding surprised.

"Hey, mister! You forgot your cat!"

"Give me the fucking carrier," Sanzo said, glaring, his face as hot as if it were sunburned.

The cabbie handed the slightly shaken-up and loudly meowing item over to him. "He's a real nice cat," he said with a huge grin. "He really likes meat buns!"

"Mr. Fluffy?" Hakkai asked. He knelt next to Sanzo and stuck a finger through an air hole. "Is that you?"

Sanzo closed his eyes and just barely kept himself from slugging the cabbie. "Here," he said, handing the cat carrier to Hakkai. "And his name's Cat."

Sha burst out laughing. "Cat? Hell, even I could do better than that!"

"Hey!" the cabbie said. "Cat's a great name, jerk!"

Things devolved into shouting matches, Hakkai's insane laughter, and a hell of a lot of beer after that, but long after the sun had set, lying in a hammock under a tree and pleasantly buzzed, listening to the cabbie snoring a few trees away, and feeling Cat curled warm and sleepy against his shoulder, Sanzo figured on the whole, the day could have gone much worse.

 __

the end


End file.
